Can or container and the lid therefor

ABSTRACT

A container having a rim with an inner vertical wall at the top thereof and a lid applied to the rim for closing and sealing the can, wherein the lid has a concave or dished surface with a peripheral short annular downwardly extending bend merging into a vertical wall so that when the pressure inside the can increases it will cause the concave or dished surface of the lid to straighten and apply an outward lateral pressure against the vertical wall of the lid, which correspondingly applies an outward lateral pressure against the vertical wall of the rim to retain the lid on the rim.

[ Nov. 6, 1973 CAN OR CONTAINER AND THE LID Kinberg............................ 220/42 C THEREFOR [75] Inventor: Elmer J. Knize, Chicago, 111.

Primary Examiner-William T. Dixson, Jr. Assistant Examiner-Allan N. Shoap Attorney-Max R. Kraus [73] Assignee: Lippy Can Co., Ltd., Chicago, Ill.

[22] Filed: Nov. 17, 1971 [57] ABSTRACT A container having a rim with an inner vertical wall at 21 Appl. No.: 199,520

11f(55i1111:1111111:11111:111111111111111111111111'sfifiofi the tee eheeeef eee e ePP'iee e the em fee e'eeiee 220/42 A, 42 C, 42 E,

and sealing the can, wherein the lid has a concave or [58] Field of Search..............

dished surface with a peripheral short annular downwardly extending bend merging into a vertical wall so 220/42 D, 42 F, 60 A, 66, 46 R; 215/56 56 R f that when the pressure inside the can increases it will 1 eerenws Cited cause the concave or dished surface of the lid to UNITED STATES PATENTS straighten and apply an outward lateral pressure against the vertical wall of the lid, which correspondingly applies an outward lateral pressure against the vertical wall of the rim to retain the lid on the rim.

4 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures 2,971,671 2/1961 Shakman 2,726,006 12/1955 Brewer et a1...

3,329,302 7/1967 Kitchen..........

R26,730 12/1969 Knize ,v M- a 2 PATENTED "BY 6 I975 FIG, i

CAN OR CONTAINER AND THE LIDTHEREFOR This invention is an improvement on my Reissue U.S. Pat. No. Re26,730 issued on Dec. 2, 1969.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In addition to attaining all of the objectives set forth in said Reissue Patent, this invention will retain the lid on the can where increased pressure is built up and exerted in the interior of the can. Therefore, one of the objects of this invention is that when the pressure inside the can is such that it would normally blow the lid from the top closure position of the can, the increased pressure against the underside of the lid will be transmitted to the vertical wall of the rim of the can which tends to tighten the lid with respect to the rim and prevents the lid from being forced off of the rim.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view of the container and lid forming this invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 22 of FIG. 1.

The can or container, generally indicated by the numeral 10, comprises a circular body 12, a bottom 14 secured to the body 12, and a rim generally indicated at 16 secured to the top of the body.

The rim 16 is of circular shape and is formed to comprise an inner vertical wall 18 which terminates at its lower end in a rolled bead 19. The upper portion of the wall 18 is curved or arcuate shaped to form a rolled top surface 20 which continues downwardly, with an outer spaced vertical wall 22 which angles or inclines outwardly as at 23 and which continues laterally with a horizontal bottom section 24, which continues vertically upwardly to form a spaced vertical wall 26, which then continues outwardly to form a rolled top surface 28 to receive therewithin the rolled upper edge 30 of the body of the container.

The upper edge 30 continues downwardly as at 32 within the downwardly extending portion 34 of the rim. The downwardly extending portion 32 of the can body is turned inwardly and upwardly and terminates at an edge 36. The downwardly extending portion 34 of the rim continues around the edge 36 of the can body as at 38 and terminates in a downwardly extending end 40. The rim is thus interlocked with the top of the can or container. The inner vertical wall 18 of the rim is adjacent the central can opening 42. The rolled top surface 20 extends above the plane of any other portion of the rim.

The lid generally indicated at 44 is of circular shape and comprises a central concave or dished portion 46 which continues at its peripheral edge with a short annular downwardly extending curved bend 48 which then continues upwardly to form a spaced inner vertical wall 50 which curves to form a rolled-up top portion 52 and then continues downwardly to form an outer wall 54 which terminates in an outwardly turned edge or bead 56. The rolled-over top portion 52 of the lid extends above the top concave or dished portion 46 of the lid. The short downwardly extending curved bend 48 includes an inner inclined wall portion 49 between the outer edge 47 of the lid 46 which merges into the curved bend 48. This structure is important, as will be subsequently pointed out.

The rolled portion 20 and the spaced vertical walls 18 and 22 of the rim form an inverted U-shaped configuration, and the portion of the lid comprising the rolled-over portion 52 and spaced vertical walls 50 and 54 likewise form an inverted U-shaped configuration, which may be termed the seating portion of the lid. As best seen in FIG. 2, the inverted U-shaped portion of the lid seats on and engages the inverted U-shaped portion of the rim. As will be seen, the rolled-over top portion 52 of the lid seats on and embraces the rolled top surface 20 of the rim, with the vertical wall 50 of the lid contiguous to and in engagement with the vertical wall 18 of the rim and the outer wall 54 of the lid contiguous to and in engagement with the upper portion of the vertical wall 22 of the rim.

Since both the rim and the lid are made of metal, a certain amount of give and compression of the metal takes place in the rim and the lid to effect a sealing therebetween. For example, the bend 20 and the vertical walls 18 and 22 of the inverted U-shaped portion of the rim will be compressed inwardly when engaged by the complementary inverted U-shaped portion of the lid. This effects a seal-tight fit between the lid and the rim.

The inverted U-shaped portion of the rim on which the lid seats cannot become filled with or covered by a paint or like material so as to affect the seating of the lid, for if any paint splashes or gets thereon it will, due to the shape of said member, roll down and will not accumulate on the surface, as would occur with containers having rims with conventional friction grooves in the rims.

The central concave or dished portion 46 of the lid, the short annular bend 48 surrounding the peripheral edge 47 of the dished portion 46, and the angular or inclined wall 49 forming the inner wall of the bend 48, and the merging of the upturn of the bend 48 into the vertical wall 50 of the lid are all important in the manner in which they operate to seal and tighten the lid on the rim when an upward pressure, as indicated by the arrows 58 in FIG. 2, is applied against the underside of the lid. Because of the concave shape of the lid it acts as a low profile cone and some of the upward pressure against the underside of the lid is deflected laterally as at 58. and the lateral pressures will be absorbed under the rim area which is the strongest part of the can. Any excess upward pressure is cushioned and exerted against the underside of the lid to cause the concave or dished portion of the lid to straighten out to the dotted line position indicated at 46'. The inner wall 49 of the bend 48 will move laterally outward to the position shown in dotted lines and indicated by the numeral 49 and the vertical wall 50 of the lid will be urged laterally outward to an inclined angle adjacent the bend 48, applying a lateral outward pressure against the vertical wall 18 of the rim to cause the rim wall 18 to an inclined angle, as indicated by the dotted lines 18. By changing the vertical walls 50 and 18 to inclined or angular walls adjacent the lower ends thereof, the lid is tightened and undercut against the rim and the increased pressure will not blow the lid from the can.

The exceptional configuration of this invention is compatable to high speed production methods to provide the required friction in the proper places to meet all sealing specifications demanded by industry.

The shape and structure aforedescribed generates enough flexibility to make certain that the vertical wall 50 of the lid seats at all times against the vertical wall 18 of the rim, regardless of the imperfections in manufacturing, even if the wall 18 of the rim may be out of vertical or there are eccentricities in the circular shape of the can rim and lid due to metal thickness variations caused by the stretch forming process. This selfadjusting feature is present because of the shape of the lid in relation to that of the rim of the can.

What is claimed is:

l. A container and a lid for closing said container, said container having a rim, said rim having a raised portion extending inwardly of the side wall of the container, said raised portion being of an inverted U-shape which comprises an outer vertical wall, a spaced inner vertical wall connected by an arcuate-shaped top to said outer vertical wall, said outer vertical wall spaced inwardly of the side of the container and defining an annular space therebetween, said lid removably mounted on said rim and having a seating portion which is of an inverted U-shape which comprises an outer vertical wall and a spaced inner vertical wall connected by an arcuate-shaped top, said outer vertical wall of the lid being equal to or shorter than the inner vertical wall of said lid, said lid seating portion adapted to overlie and frictionally engage the raised portion of the rim with the vertical walls of the lid seating portion frictionally engaging the vertical walls of the rim raised portion and with the outer vertical wall of the lid extending into the annular space and the friction engaging surfaces between the inner wall of the lid, and the inner wall of the rim being equal to or greater than the friction engaging surfaces of the outer wall of the rim and the outer wall of the lid, said inner vertical wall of the lid being substantially parallel with the inner wall of the rim and in frictional contact therewith substantially along the entire length of the inner wall of the lid, said outer vertical wall of the lid having a peripheral edge positioned inwardly of the side wall of the container, said lid having a central concave or dished portion and an annular downwardly extending relatively short bend around the peripheral edge of the concave or dished portion, with the outer wall of said bend merging into the inner vertical wall of the lid, said central concave portion of the lid being in a horizontal plane closer to the bottom of the inner vertical wall of the lid than to the top of said inner vertical wall, said concave or dished portion of the lid adapted to tend to straighten towards a horizontal plane when internal pressure inside the container exerts an upward pressure against the underside of the concave portion of the lid to urge the inner vertical wall of the lid laterally outward adjacent the peripheral bend to apply pressure against the spaced inner vertical wall of the rim laterally outward to tighten the lid with respect to the rim.

2. A structure as defined in claim 1 in which the peripheral bend of the lid includes an inclined inner wall, which inclined inner wall is urged laterally outward when the pressure is applied against the underside of the lid.

3. A structure as defined in claim 1 in which the outer vertical wall of the rim is angled outwardly at the lower end thereof.

4. A structure as defined in claim 1 in which the vertical walls of the lid and rim when pressed laterally outward change the vertical position of the walls to an outwardly angled position. 

1. A container and a lid for closing said container, said container having a rim, said rim having a raised portion extending inwardly of the side wall of the container, said raised portion being of an inverted U-shape which comprises an outer vertical wall, a spaced inner vertical wall connected by an arcuate-shaped top to said outer vertical wall, said outer vertical wall spaced inwardly of the side of the container and defining an annular space therebetween, said lid removably mounted on said rim and having a seating portion which is of an inverted U-shape which comprises an outer vertical wall and a spaced inner vertical wall connected by an arcuate-shaped top, said outer vertical wall of the lid being equal to or shorter than the inner vertical wall of said lid, said lid seating portion adapted to overlie and frictionally engage the raised portion of the rim with the vertical walls of the lid seating portion frictionally engaging the vertical walls of the rim raised portion and with the outer vertical wall of the lid extending into the annular space and the friction engaging surfaces between the inner wall of the lid, and the inner wall of the rim being equal to or greater than the friction engaging surfaces of the outer wall of the rim and the outer wall of the lid, said inner vertical wall of the lid being substantially parallel with the inner wall of the rim and in frictional contact therewith substantially along the entire length of the inner wall of the lid, said outer vertical wall of the lid having a peripheral edge positioned inwardly of the side wall of the container, said lid having a central concave or dished portion and an annular downwardly extending relatively short bend around the peripheral edge of the concave or dished portion, with the outer wall of said bend merging into the inner vertical wall of the lid, said central concave portion of the lid being in a horizontal plane closer to the bottom of the inner vertical wall of the lid than to the top of said inner vertical wall, said concave or dished portion of the lid adapted to tend to straighten towards a horizontal plane when internal pressure inside the container exerts an upward pressure against the underside of the concave portion of the lid to urge the inner vertical wall of the lid laterally outward adjacent the peripheral bend to apply pressure against the spaced inner vertical wall of the rim laterally outward to tighten the lid with respect to the rim.
 2. A structure as defined in claim 1 in which the peripheral bend of the lid includes an inclined inner wall, which inclined inner wall is urged laterally outward when the pressure is applied against the underside of the lid.
 3. A structure as defined in claim 1 in which the outer vertical wall of the rim is angled outwardly at the lower end thereof.
 4. A structure as defined in claim 1 in which the vertical walls of the lid and rim when pressed laterally outward change the vertical position of the walls to an outwardly angled position. 